NAPALM DEATH Frontman On Brexit: ‘A Lot Of It Is To Do With The U.K. Isolating Itself, Which Is F*cking Stupid’

Napalm Death Barney Greenway

NAPALM DEATH frontman Mark “Barney” Greenway was recently interview by Metal Mad TV.

Speaking about the Brexit, Barney said: “I think the whole thing’s really f*cking stupid. The European Union is not perfect in many respects. The kind of European Union that I want to see is the European Union that exists entirely to keep the peace between people and also to help people when they sort of go down.

“The financial side of the European Union — the way the finances are used — really is problematic, but as a social entity, I think it can be a good thing, but it needs to be reformed,” he added. But I guess that’s beside the point — the whole thing about the U.K. becoming isolated, forget about Brexit.

“A lot of it is to do with the U.K. isolating itself, which is f*cking stupid. Brexit, to me, is a little bit irrelevant. It’s more the feeling of, ‘We want to be an island nation, and everybody else is kind of second.’ It goes back to imperialist mindset — old, colonial thinking, which is gone, and it doesn’t need to come back.”

He also spoke about the environment and climate change: “I’ve been concerned about it for f*cking decades. The thing that bothers me is that people understand it more because of the information that’s been given, I still don’t think enough people grasp how f*cking serious it is.

Barney continued: “This is not something that you can go, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll do something soon. Maybe I won’t.’ It’s got to be now, because it’s going to be too late in not too long of time… Obviously, with a band, it’s hard not to fly, but I want to cut down on my flying very significantly. I drive a hybrid, but I don’t use my car when I don’t need to. I really do try, but it’s many things… Anxiety is a good thing, but you need to mix that with clear vision. It doesn’t serve to just be afraid. You’ve to be forward-thinking as well.”

On the band’s new album, Barney said: “[We’re] very close to finishing it. We’re trying to get it [done] for February/March next year. I can’t give you the name yet, but the theme is ‘the other.’

“One good example of people being treated as the other is this whole thing about immigrants. Not everybody, but there is a certain percentage of the population that looks at them as something different — like, not human, almost. I wanted to challenge that way of thinking.

“Not only is it the other immigrants or whatever you want to call people that migrate. There’s other things as well — other people who are treated as ‘the other.’ I would suggest simply, generally, that it’s not necessary to treat people differently.”